"The land of gold!" exclaimed Kenneth; "what a fascinating phrase! Zona, when we met you in Zanzibar our lucky stars must have been in the ascendant." Zona gave a little laugh. "It is the land of gold," he said, "that we are going to, it is true; but no man that ever yet tried brought that gold down to the coast." "And why, my friend?" "Why? I cannot tell you all the reasons why. They say the gold is guarded by evil spirits, that the hills where it is to be found are encircled by giant forests, by terrible swamps, the breath of which is more feared by the Arab than spear of savage foeman." "We can but try," said Kenneth. "Zona," said Archie, "did ever you hear the line of that old song, `The March of the Cameron Men,' which says, `Whatever a man dares he can do'?" "Gentlemen all," replied Zona, "the Arab is the most daring of all men who live; the Arab has sought this gold that we are going in quest of; the Arab has failed! I have spoken." "Worthy Zona," said Harvey, laughing, "you have an excellent opinion of your people, and an excellent opinion of yourself. Nay, never start, man. I love you for it. But let me tell you this. There is one thing in which even an Arab gold-seeker, with all his pluck and daring, may fail in--" "And that is?" said Zona. "Knowledge of prospecting." "I am in the dark as to your meaning," said Zona. "I know you are, and so are all your people. In other words, then, they don't know where to look for the gold. Now listen, friend. I have spent years and years in the gold regions of California--" "I say, Harvey, old man," said Kenneth, "you weren't much the better of it. Eh?" "True," replied Harvey, with a sigh; "else you wouldn't have found me working as an ordinary seaman before the mast in a craft like the _Brilliant_." "Forgive me," said Kenneth, stretching out his hand, which Harvey readily grasped. "Forgive me; I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I found you before the mast, it is true; but I took to you from the first hour we met. You have got the grit of a good man in you. Else Archie and I wouldn't have asked you to come with us on this gold-hunt, which after all may turn out to be a wild-goose chase." "But it will _not_ be a wild-goose chase. Man, I tell you this, the very mud of the river we are now floating over contains gold dust. We are going to trace that gold to its source, and find it in nuggets." "I have found gold before," he continued. "I have made two fortunes and lost them, worse luck; but I can tell you whether or not gold lies in any country, if I get but one glance at the land, or but walk over it once. Fear not then, I won't deceive you, nor myself." "Well, we shall trust to your skill," said Archie. "And to Zona's," added Kenneth. "To Zona's, certainly." Let us hark back, reader, in our tale for a moment, and explain the appearance of our adventurers on this wild dark river of Africa at such a time of night.